Including $336 million in restructuring costs, the net loss
for the three months ended June 30 was $241 million, or 72 cents
a share, the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline said today in a
statement. The year-earlier loss, before the carrier sought
bankruptcy protection, was $286 million, or 85 cents.

“American had numerous problems on both the top line and
the cost side, and it’s good to see both of those moving in the
right direction,” said Fred Lowrance, an Avondale Partners LLC
analyst who doesn’t rate the shares. “The results would say
they are performing in line to slightly above average among the
big carriers, at least in the second quarter.”

The results, including record sales of $6.45 billion,
reflect the strength of American’s route network and revenue-sharing alliances with carriers outside the U.S., Chief
Executive Officer Tom Horton said in a message to employees.
Both are key components in American’s plan to emerge from
bankruptcy on a stand-alone basis.

The third-biggest U.S. airline sought Chapter 11 protection
in November after three consecutive years of losses and sitting
out a round of industry consolidation that created two larger
competitors. It’s preparing now to evaluate mergers and other
restructuring options with the unsecured creditors committee in
its bankruptcy.

“This type of financial performance and operating
performance that is so strong is unusual for companies in
restructuring,” Bella Goren, American’s chief financial
officer, said in an interview today. “Our improvement reflects
only a fraction of our restructuring progress, with a lot more
still to come.”

AMR’s 6.25 percent bonds due in October 2014 rose 1.25
cents to 66.5 cents on the dollar today, according to Trace, the
bond-pricing reporting system of the Financial Industry
Regulatory Authority.

American is the first major U.S. airline to release second-quarter results. The nine largest carriers, excluding American,
should report combined earnings of $2.1 billion, up 62 percent
from $1.3 billion a year earlier, Ray Neidl, a Maxim Group LLC
analyst, said in a note yesterday.

Oil Prices

Results will be helped by declining oil prices and
continued unit-revenue growth, he said.

AMR ended the quarter with $5.8 billion in cash and short-term investments, including $772 million restricted for specific
uses. That compared with $5.6 billion, including $457 million in
restricted cash, at the end of March.

“While there is still much to be done, we expect this
momentum to build quickly as the new American re-emerges as an
industry leader,” Horton said in the statement.

Passenger revenue for each seat flown a mile in American’s
main jet operations rose 8.7 percent, aided by the higher fares
and a 2.4 percent reduction in flight and seat capacity. Costs
for each seat flown a mile, a measure of efficiency, rose 5
percent.

American reached an agreement in May with its creditors
committee, which has a voice in major decisions during
bankruptcy, to explore strategic options including a possible
sale.

While US Airways Group Inc. has said it wants to merge with
American, Horton said in a letter to employees last week that
the carrier outlined its preliminary view of “multiple”
options in a meeting with the committee.

US Airways, JetBlue Airways Corp., Alaska Airlines,
Frontier Airlines and Virgin America Inc. were discussed, said a
person familiar with the situation who asked not to be named
because the talks were private.